Prolight + Sound from 12 to 15 March was once again the highlight of the year for companies, retailers and professional users from the fields of event technology, AV media technology and systems integration. As always Prolight + Sound was held concurrently with Musikmesse and turned Frankfurt into a hot spot for a big international audience of trade visitors. “A total of 107,629 visitors from 142 countries reflect the continuing high level of interest shown by the music and event sectors in innovations and new developments’, said Detlef Braun, Member of the Board of Management of Messe Frankfurt. “This year’s Musikmesse and Prolight + Sound were characterised by a high visitor standard and a willingness to place orders.’
Altogether, 2,242 exhibitors from 57 countries took part in the two events. 42,267 visitors came to Frankfurt primarily for Prolight + Sound – almost the same number as at last year’s recordbreaking fair1. In the Prolight + Sound exhibition halls, 897 exhibitors from 42 countries presented their products and solutions. The relevance of the fair for companies in the sector was emphasised by Dietmar Rottinghaus, Chairman of the Board of the Professional Lighting & Sound Association of Germany (Verband fur Licht-, Ton- und Veranstaltungstechnik – VPLT), who said, “Prolight + Sound not only illuminates individual niches but also offers a complete and comprehensive overview of the market. This is where manufacturers, customers, distributors and service providers meet – an overall blend that is unparalleled worldwide.’
Prolight + Sound Director Michael Biwer summarised saying, “This year’s fair was characterised by an all-embracing image of the sector and a mood that is improving all the time in the live and event sector. 80 percent of exhibitors rate the economic climate in the sector as being at least satisfactory to good. This represents a solid foundation for the development of new and future-oriented technologies – and therefore, for the future of Prolight + Sound.’
The positive economic trend was also reflected by the echo from exhibitors and visitors. 84 percent of exhibitors said they were satisfied to extremely satisfied with the course of business at the fair. The response from visitors was even better with 98 percent saying they had achieved their goals for the fair. With respect to these two important indicators, this year’s results were actually up on the previous year. Numerous exhibitors confirmed this: “Both the number and standard of visitors were excellent in 2014. The live and theatre sector is growing in significance for our company and, at Prolight + Sound, we were able to conduct many very productive discussions with visitors who are seriously interested in our products’, said Wolfgang Huber, Press Spokesman of Lawo AG.
After his company’s debut at the fair, Richi Rozas, Marketing and Communication Coordinator of IDEA Pro Audio, said, “As a start-up, taking part in Prolight + Sound was definitely the right decision because it enabled us to present our brand and products immediately after launching the company. The response exceeded our expectations and we are confident that, in the coming weeks, we will conclude a number of agreements initiated at Prolight + Sound.’
Around two thirds of the companies making presentations at Prolight + Sound came from outside Germany. After Germany, China was the best represented visitor nation, followed by Great Britain, Italy, the USA, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Taiwan and Spain. The audience of trade visitors was even more international than the year before with 51 percent of them travelling to Frankfurt from outside
Germany. The very high business level at Prolight + Sound is also shown by the large proportion of managers among the visitors (60 percent). Discussing the unique visitor structure at the fair, Alexander Hartung, Sales Manager of CHAIN MASTER Buhnentechnik GmbH, said, “At Prolight + Sound, we encounter customers from all parts of the world: from Europe and Africa to North and South America. The visitors are highly professional and they cover the spectrum from individual retailers to technical directors. In other words, you can reach a very multi-faceted audience here.’ For visitors, products and services in the fields of audio technology were of particular interest (71 percent, multiple answers possible). The levels of demand for lighting technology (59 percent) and stage technology (46 percent) were also very high.
Live and event technology brought to life
Visitors could also see event technology in action in the special areas of Prolight + Sound. At the Live Sound Arena, Prolight + Sound presented mobile PA systems live and many companies from the live-sound segment took advantage of the opportunity to demonstrate their products. Bigger PA systems and line arrays were to be seen and heard at the Concert Sound Arena. As well, products and solutions for moving picture production could also be experienced live at Prolight + Sound. Following the great success of the Moving Picture Pavilion in 2013, the range of products to be seen there was supplemented this year by camera technology and broadcasting equipment.
Focus on specialist training
An important contribution to the unparalleled function of Prolight + Sound as a source of impulses for the sector is made by the wide range of interesting training events and conferences. Particularly popular as always was the Prolight + Sound Conference, at which experts passed on their knowledge in lectures and presentations and offered insights into innovations and new areas of application. The Prolight + Sound Conference is split into three main parts. In the Media Systems section, the focus is on technologies, processes and solutions for the integration of multi-media networks, audio technology, room acoustics, lighting and stage technology and security equipment. The Prolight + Sound Forum is a source of valuable information about safety in the event business, as well as about the legal background and regulations. Another part of the Prolight + Sound Conference is the VDT Academy. In this event organised by the Association of German Sound Engineers (Verband Deutscher Tonmeister – VDT), participants could find out about the latest developments in the world of acoustics and studio technology.
Prolight + Sound was also the setting for the 2nd Eventplaza Conference on trends, strategies, expertise, ideas and impulses revolving around the subject of event management. The conference was accompanied by a specialist exhibition. At the beginning of the Eventplaza Conference, visitors had the opportunity to find out about new noise-protection requirements and risk assessment for events at
the International Event Safety Conference (I-ESC).
New at this year’s Prolight + Sound was the Theatre and Film Colloquium, a knowledge forum for exhibitors and visitors from the fields of theatre, stage and film technology. The great importance of the training opportunities offered by the fair was underscored by Detlef R. Schulz, Head of the National Politics & Communication Division of the Association for Media and Event Technology (Verband fur Medien- und Veranstaltungstechnik), who said, “Prolight + Sound is a very important platform for us. In particular, the seminar programme is a relevant part where the focus is on training for specialist personnel, a subject of great importance for our sector, because the demands on events and, therefore, on specialist staff continue to grow.’
Extensive programme of awards and events
Prolight + Sound and Musikmesse were officially opened during the PRG Live Entertainment Award, a gala evening event held in the “Festhalle’ of Frankfurt Fair and Exhibition Centre on the eve of the fairs. In the presence of around 1,300 guests from the national and international music, event and entertainment scene, prominent speakers – including stars such as DJ Bobo, Heino, Ben and Meret
Becker and comedian Bodo Bach – honoured achievements in the German concert and show business in 14 categories. This was followed on the first day of the fair by the presentation of the sector’s two most important awards: the Opus – German Stage Award – which went to scenic designer Erich Wonder for his life’s work. Wonder, an Austrian who worked at Frankfurt’s “Schauspiel’ theatre for many years, received the award for an unparalleled career during which he created innumerable innovative and impressive sets.
Renowned scene designer Mark Fisher was honoured posthumously with the Jury Award and an Opus in the category Technical Realisation for his rock production, “The Wall 2013’. The winners of this year’s Sinus – Systems Integration Award were Schaeffler AG and the contractors for the creative use of AV media technology and systems integration in the new congress centre at the Head Office of
the Schaeffler Group in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria. New in the programme of awards this year was the Prolight + Sound International Press Award (PIPA). Under the auspices of the MMMusik-Media-Verlag publishing company, trade journalists from all over the world selected the winners of awards for products and services in the professional audio and video industry.
The next Prolight + Sound will be held in Frankfurt am Main from 15 to 18 April 2015.
